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Xiaomi launches Mi Power Bank 2i starting at Rs 799 ‘Made in India’

Xiaomi has launched 10000mAh and 20000mAh capacity Mi Power Bank 2i in India. The company highlighted the fact that the new power banks are ‘Made in India’ at the company’s first accessory manufacturing facility situated in Noida, in partnership with Hipad. The 10000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i is priced at Rs 799 whereas the 20000mAh capacity variant will cost Rs 1,499 and will be available via online retailers from November 23 and via offline stores from December.

Both the 10000mAh and 20000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i come with support for dual USB output. The latter also offers two-way quick charge 3.0 while charging using a single USB port. The 20000mAh power bank comes with a perforated exterior which is scratch resistant while the 10000mAh power bank comes enclosed in an anodized aluminium alloy case.

The actual capacity of the 10000mAh and 20000mAh Mi Power Bank 2i is 6500mAh and 13000mAh respectively. The former power bank supports 5V/2A, 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A charging with up to 85 percent conversion rate whereas the 20000mAh power bank supports 5V/2.4A, 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A charging with a conversion rate of up to 93 percent.

Xiaomi’s Manu Kumar Jain, while addressing the media before hosting the visit at the new facility, highlighted that identical to the existing Mi Power Bank 2 models, the new range goes through nine levels of stringent quality testing – with three levels of process inspection at each stage. Jain, who heads Xiaomi India, stated that the sales of its Mi Power Bank range in the country is four times higher than Lenovo, which comes third in terms of leading power bank companies in the Indian market. He also pointed out that fake versions of the original Mi Power Bank models are surpassing traditional competitors in the country and are so far accounted for the second position in the overall power bank space.

To overcome the issue of counterfeit models, Xiaomi has started using a hologram and security code that helps customers identify the genuine models among the mix.

“Our power banks have smart features that make them compelling among the competition,” Jain told Gadgets 360.

The plan of establishing a new facility to manufacture the new Mi Power Bank range in the country was sketched last year. The Xiaomi India team discussed the strategy with Hipad Technology, the company that already produces Mi Power Bank models in China, and ultimately kick-started the new facility. The manufacturer has four facilities in China that produce branded smartphones in addition to power banks for global markets.

“We are transferring the benefits we receive from the supply chain and import taxes to our customers through the new facility,” Jain stated.

Spread across a total area of 2.3 lakh square feet, the Noida facility has a production capacity of developing seven power banks per minute – significantly higher than what Xiaomi had initially in the Chinese region. There are presently over 500 employees at the factory, Xiaomi and Hipad Technology are planning to expand the headcount by hiring new talent. Jain asserted that more than 70 percent of people working at the local facility is B.Tech. Also, he revealed that the company is currently using locally produced packaging material and has plans for a local procurement of SMT (surface-mount technology) that would begin sometime next year.